Railway-car-handling mechanism



' W. C. RICHEY '--ARAILWAY CAR HANDLING MECHANISM Dec. 25

Filed Feb. 17. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 war Ill A Patented WILLIAIVI C. RICHY,

Eia?

iii t or DENvnn, COLORADO.

RAILWAY-CAR-HANDLING MECHANISM.

Application filed February To ZZ who/n t may concern.' i f Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. RICHEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing -at the city'and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented a new and 'useful Rail\ vayCar-Handling Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in railway car handling mechanism and particularly for the handling or moving of cars over tipples, when the said cars are being loaded. The main object of the invention is to provide mechanism by which one or more cars can be moved by gradual stages, be-

neath a loading chute, so as to properly dis-v tribute the load throughout the length of the car.

Further, to provide mechanism by which cars may be moved by gradual stages beneath a loadingchute and without the'employment of a locomotive, the said mechanism being adapted to exert both a resilient starting pull and a resilient stopping action, whereby sudden jerking of the car and the corresponding strain upon the mechanism is eliminated.

Further, to provide a mechanism comprising ,a practically endless cable of any desired length, a power operated gripping sheave wheel for said cable and a truck operated by said. cableA having a. springcushioned connecting yoke which is adapted to be detachably connected to the l.journal box of a car, whereby a single car or several cars which are coupled togethen'may be moved in gradual :stages` to facilitate `the work oi. loadingl the said cars.

These objects are accomplished by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings in whichyFigiu'e l is a side view of the improved car handling mechanism, showing the connecting yoke thereof in engagement with the journal box of a car truck.

Fig. Q is a pian view of tho endless-cableojiorated truck having the connecting yoke which is adapted to engage the journal box ot a car truck, a section of the track over which the said truck is drawn being also shown.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end view of the truck and its tracks, and showing the connecting 17, 192s. serial no. 619,604.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic side view showing` the arrangement of the mechanism.

F ig. S is a side view of one of the adjustable track disks which hold the cable gripper-s in cable-gripping relation.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. l0 is a front View of the semicircular half section of one of the supporting disks for one of the adjustable track disks, and

Fig. l1 is a plan view of Fig. 10, show* ing the integral connection between the semicircular half disk, and the cap of one of the bearings which supports the shaft of the cable gripping sheave wheel.

Heretofore, it has usually been the practice, in loading cars with coal or freight of a like character, to run the cars onto a tipple or to a section of track extending beneath a loading chute, and to move the cars, manually, as they are loaded, by the use of pinch bars. This method is both slow and laborious, and when the grade is steep the car or cars are often moved by gravitybeyond the point of the loading chute when the brakes are released, and must be moved back again in the manner above mentioned.

The improved power-operative mechanism eliminates these objectionable features, and

provides means by which a car can be vengaged, moved at will, and released, without loss of time, and without sudden movement of the car and the consequent strain upon the` mechanism. j

Referring to the accompanying drawings: The numeral l indicates the improved cable gripping sheave wheel, 2 the shaft upon which the said wheel is rigidly mounted, and 3 the bearings for the shaft, .vhioh are secured upon supports ll as shown, the said wheel being positioned below the level of the track bed over which the ears to be loaded pass, the highest point o the wheel being slightly above the level of the track bed, as will. be understood by reference to Fig. 1. The wheel 1, is provided with an annular circun'iiterential cable receiving groove 5, and each side of the wheel is formed with a circular series ot rectangularI openings 6,'which intersect the gr ings on one side being diametrically oppovv site the openings on the other side. Bearings 7 are bolted to the wheel, onV each side o't' eaclrreetangular opening 6 and in these bearingsv are supported pins 7^, upon Vwhich are mounted the outer ends of radially disposed gripper arms 8, 'the tree inner ends of which terminate within a short distance o'lthe hub of the wheel and are'providedV with holes in the arms'and into the blocks.

Vmoved out ot' radial lines.

rollers 9, which are held thereon in any suitable manner. rlhe cuter, or pivoted ends ot the arms 8 lie partly within the openings 6, from which pointsvthey incline from theV respective faces of the wheel, and the inner :taces of these outer end portions are formed with dovetail grooves 1G in lwhich lare fitted blocks 11, which project inward through thek openings 6, and into the' cable receiving groove V5, and are held in the dove tail grooves 10 by screws-12, which pass through The blocks 11 are adapted to grip the cable which lies within the groove 5 and are thereforeoil relatively soft metal, so that they will not cutorwear the cable. The wheel is provided, preferably, with sixteen pairs et these arms andV their inner end portions, which are spaced VJfrom the vtace of the wheel 1, are supported in vbifurcated guide lugs 13 v'hich are termed on the 'faces ot the wheel, and which prevent4V the arms 'from being By reference to l? ig. 6 it will be seen that inward pressure on the inner ends ot the arms 8 will cause each vcooperating pair of blocks 1v1 to grip the cable which lies between them, and this pressure Vagainst thev inner ends of the arms is accomplished inthetollowing manner:

Upon'the inner end'of each shaft bear"V ing: 3 is` formed a seinicircular plate 14,l the straight edge el' which is onA a level with the axiso'lh the bearing; and upon the inner end ot each bearing cap 3^, is formed a semicireular platel 15, which adjoins the plate '14: and' 'forms therewith a circular' plate A, thejaxial center of which eonincides with the axis of the shatt'2. Thesemicicular plateslt andl `are held in alinement with' respect to each other, by dowel pins 16, whichv enter registering holes in the meeting edges oi' theplates, vand the twovcircular plates A, thus termed, constitute supports 'tor a pair of circular track plates 17, which are adjustably secured tothe supports in the Vfollowing manner:Y

The supports Al arefeach provided with twov circular rows ot thread d'holesl and the trackplates 17 are also provided with c or- Y responding holes 19, but the holes 19 are unthreaded and vcountersunk at their innerA oove theopen Y,

20, which are screwedl into the the supports A, thereby securing the track plates V17 tothe supports, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. The track plates 17, arevin the Vterm o'i iiat ringsl which extend over theends of the hub ot the sheave wheel 1, and vif rm tracks for therollers 9 ot the gripper arms 8. A space is defined between each support A and its Vtrack plate, and by turning the screws 20, the trackplates 17 may be adjusted withrespect to the supports and the screws are held against turning, after the desiredl adjustment et the trackplates is determined, by jam nuts 21 on -the said screws, which are screwed tightly'against the outer faces oit' the said'track plates. `It will thus be seen that the track plates can be adjusted to bear against the rollers 9 with sutlioient pressure toV cause the blocks 11 to grip the cable passing, between them, and

draw'on the cablevas the sheave wheel 1 Y rotates. in operating either an endless rotation of the wheehwhen the underlap is 1 beingvdrawnupon, andk this is accomplished inthe following manner: y' Y Y A substantially semicircular groove 22 is formed'in the inner tace ol each track plate, in the path travelled by the rolle-rs 9, the said grooves gradually increasing in depth trom their ends to points representing their maximumdepth, Yas shown by Figures 8 and 9. 'I he rollers 9 successively enter the grooves, as the wheel 1 rotates,'and the'pressure on them andconsequently on the gripper blocks, is withdrawn, thus permitting theblocks to release` Ieither the upper'or lower 'lap ofthe cable, ata given point in the rotation of the wheel. p The improvedf.gripping wheel mayV be operated in any way desired, but prei!- erablyV operate YitV y` means of v po-wer driven worm pinion 28, whichY operates a I worm gear 24, whichris rigidly mounted onV the shatt'2, as shown by `the diagram, Fig. 7.. The cable 24 passes around the Y'grip wheel 1 at one termina-l,V and around a vpulley Y17A at the other terminal, andthe ends of the cable are secured vto ther'opposite ends oit a draw bar "W1 which passes through cross betref/)6,

Vwhich form theend members et a car-operating trucki'B7 and V'which arel Vconnected -by longitudinal sideV bars 27, which, as shown 1n lF 2, are angle bars. Y

Each cross bar 261is'fprorided with bearings 28 in which are mounted stub Vaales 29- upcn which areV rig dly secured track wheels having slightly taperedtread faces, and

Cil

these wheels travel upon the lower flanges oftracks 3l, which are in the form of channel bars, and which run parallel with, and close to the railway tracks over which the to be loaded are passed.

rlhe tracks 31 permit free travel of the truck both back and forth, but hold the truck against displacementwhen the same is connected to a car Jfor the purpose of moving the same, as will hereinafter more fully appear. The tracks 3l, are bolted to brackets 32, which are in turn bolted to the rail ties, as shown.

The draw bar 25, rest in recesses 33, which are formed in the end bars 26 of the truck, and are held therein by caps 34 which are bolted to the said end bars, as shown in F ig. 3. Collars are welded upon the draw bar 25 which bear against the outer faces of the end bars 26, and thus prevent sliding movement of the draw bar in the said end bars. Slidably and rotatably mounted on the draw bar, midway ot its length, is a yoke shaped coupler 36, which is adapted to engage the journal box of a car truck to move said car, and between thev ends ot the coupler, and the end bars 26, are interposed heavy coil springs 37, and 37A respectively, which normally hold the coupler 36, at a point midway between the two end bars 26, and also serve to cushion the initial pull on the car operating truck, so as to relieve the strain on the gripping wheels.

In operation, as many yards of the track 3l are laid, as may be necessary, and at the loading terminal of these tracks, is mounted the pulley 1A, while at the other terminal ot the track is mounted the cable gripping wheel l, the shafts of these wheels being below the level of the road bed, so that the hio'hest points of the wheels are slightly above the level oit the road bed, as will be understood by reference to Figs. l and 7. The cable 24 is then passed over and around the gripping wheel l and the pulley 1A and the lower lap of the cable, which lies between the tracks 3l, is supported at intervals on rollers 38, and at the ends ot' the track are mounted rollers 39 over which thc lower lap passes to the gripping wheel l and to the pulley 1^. The two ends of thecable are secured to the opposite ends of the draw bar 25 ol the car operating truck B, and

when the wheel l is rotated the cable which is `gripped by the said wheel is drawn upon and the truck B is thereby propelled.

As bc'lore stated, the track 3l over-which the truck B is drawn, are laid parallel with and close' to the railway tracks on which the cars to be loa'ded pass. A car to be loaded is moved to a point on the main track opposits the loading chute, and the truck B vis connected thereto by swinging the coupler 36 into engagement with a journal bosy of one of the wheel axles oi' the said car.

As the material is deposited in the car the car is gradually moved forward "by the action of the truck B in order that the load may be equally distributed and when the car is filled it is moved forward tar enough to make room for another car which is coupled to the rst car in the usual manner, and thus a number of cars may be loaded, and gradually moved forward by the truck which is coupled to the first car, and which is moved by cable 24. lVhen the cable is drawn upon in the direction of the arrow, Fig. l, the initial stress is sustained by the coil spring 37A, which is thereby compressed by the coupler 36 until the force of the pull is communicated to the ear, the initial torward movement of the truck B, causing the coupler 36 to slide on the drawbar 25, thereby compressing the spring 87A, as stated. ln stopping a ear, the initial force is directed against the coil spring 37, when the cable is brought to a stand still, thus relieving the strain upon the cable. The cars being loaded, are under control at all times, and can be moved as slowly or as rapidly as may be necessary, and any undue strain on the cable, such as may be caused by the bumping of one car against a car 'or cars which are coupled to the truck B, will cause the cable to slip through the gripping blocks ll, thus relieving the strain upon the cable and the gripping wheel; the spring 37, or 37A, as the case may be, also cooperating in absorbing the shock. When the truck B has been moved to the end of the tracks farthest from the loading terminal, the gripping wheel l is reversed and the truck is then moved in the opposite direction, or back to the loading terminal.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. In car handling mechanism of the character described, the combination with a pulley, a cable gripping wheel distant from said pulley and a cable which passes over and around said pulley and said gripping wheel; of tracks parallel with the run oi said cable, a truck on said tracks having a draw bar to the ends of which the respec-l tive ends of sa-id cable are secured and a coupler device slidably mounted on said draw bar centrally ot' its length aud spring cushioned in each direction of its movement, which is adapted to be connected to a car to move the same.

2. In car handling mechanism. of the character described, the combination with a track section which parallels a railway track, of a pulley mounted at one end of said track section, a power operated cable gripping wheel mounted at the opposite end ot said track section, a truck mounted on said track section having' a longitudinal draw bar, a yoke shaped coupler centrally and slidably mounted on said draw bar, coil springs onsaid drawbar which are interposed between the ends of said coupler and the ends of the truck respectively, and a cable which vpasses around said pulley and said cable gripping wheel, its ends being secured respectively to the opposite ends of said draw bar, said coupler being adapted to be connected to the axle journal box of a car on said railway track, to move ysaid cai'.V

Y 3. In car handling mechanism of the character described, the combination with a track section, which is adjacent to and parallels a railway track, the rails of sai-d traclfsection being of channel. bar 'loriiig of a pulley mounted at one end of said track section, a power operated cable gripping wheel mounted at the opposite end of said track section, a truck having wheels which lie withinrsaid channel tracks and run uponV the same, said truck having a central longi tiidinal drawbar, a yoke shaped coupler cen-V trally and slidably mounted on said draw bar, and spring;- cushioned iii each direction of its movement, a cable which is passed around said pulley and saidV cablegripping wheel, its ends being secured respectively `to 'the opposite ends of said draw bansaid coupleibeing adapted'toV be connected YVto the axle Ajournal box of a car on said rail. Y

way track to move said car.

ln testimony whereof I'atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses. 

